The Sixtieth Republic - One half term to go - just need to survive Sports Day and Activities Week!

[StaffRepFeistyClub]

You are most welcome to this school staff support thread to get us through stressful times. It is meant for school staff only – a sort of room of requirement for school staff to let off steam.

Baiters, haters, goaders, and bashers can jog on somewhere else.

If you are NOT staff and just have a general education query please start your own thread.

Do not give the staffroom password to non-staff as it attracts the wrong sort of crowd.

Other requirements for staff room entry include the ability to find the staff room, the ability to find a clean mug in the staff room, knowledge of the photocopier codes, and the ability to sniff out where the booze is stashed - Thirsty Tuesdays, Fizz Fridays now in operation. Do not sit on the chairs and do wear a mask. Finally, upload your covid test results twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays.

@DrMadelineMaxwell my dad had 2 or 3 episodes like that a couple of years ago. Terrified the life out of my mum but he has been fine for ages now. Fingers crossed your dh is and you can concentrate on celebrating with dd.

Just woken on the sofa. Covid now in many local schools. Feels like it is only a matter of time.

Magic covid-repelling forcefields in primary classrooms at our place too: if you're supervising children collecting stuff from the cloakroom (located just outside the classroom door), mask on; two steps back into the room, magic Covid filter so mask off.

Standing in a large playground supervising staggered arrivals with no parents around? Mask on. Just in case a parent does need to accompany their child to the classroom door. Pure, useless theatre.

@HarrietDVane

Our guidance hasn't really changed in primary: no masks to be worn by anyone in classrooms, but adults recommended to wear masks in communal areas outside the classrooms where social distancing is not possible.

Exactly the same as secondary now then.

Exactly the same as secondary now then

Sounds like it! The fact that social distancing between myself and my TA is impossible in the classroom matters not one jot

I know that my TA and her family are as careful as we are, so they're less of a concern than the 30 small children coming from families with varying degrees of compliance with the rules. But that's always been the case.

Yep. I'm double vaccinated so less worried for me now but if I count the number of people I'm within one metre of within a working day, unmasked, it's literally hundreds.

In my primary school, all adults were "strongly advised" by the head to wear masks at all times indoors when we went back after Christmas. We're all still doing it now.

@RafaIsTheKingOfClay

That sounds scary, DrM. Definitely take him back if it happens again.

Just watched today’s press conference from home. Not sure if they meant to cast shade on the U.K. government, but it started off with an early comment about their overwhelming priority is to do the best for their citizens and that they remain safe whether they are 1 day old or 100 years old.

Breathing a bit of a sigh of relief that so far, although they are making changes to travel based on the situation in the U.K. it doesn’t yet affect my mum coming over next month.

Where is home for you again?

@Michino

In my primary school, all adults were "strongly advised" by the head to wear masks at all times indoors when we went back after Christmas. We're all still doing it now.

I did during lockdown but we are only to wear them outside the classroom now.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-57430510

That's great!
A former student has got an MBE too... she's still practically a child.

Ah, happy news!

@MrsHamlet. Is that the girl who campaigned for free sanitary products?

Waiting for DS1 to come out from his jab. Exciting times.

No,mother - it's for services to music. She's a brilliant saxophonist - I taught her everything she knows about literature

I love hearing ‘success stories’.

Have had my second jag and feeling pretty rough I must say! Happy, but by the time it kicks in I will be on holiday anyway.
I hope you are all having decent Saturdays with a bit of sun shining 🌞

Lucy Kellaway got an honour for services to education.

She’s only been a teacher two minutes!

noble Is she the one who set up any other training route because she wasn’t good enough to go through the normal channels or something similar? The FT journalist person? Yeah, hasn’t she only been teaching like two years or something?
It’s obviously not what you do in education but who you know!

I am impressed by Anna Miles and the Red Box Project. Now that is something worthy of recognition!

Yeah Now Teach, for second careerists who want to do part time teaching as a wind down to retirement.

Anyone know whether it’s successful?

Double jabbed and knackered! Don't know whether to blame it on jab, pregnancy or taking toddler to soft play! 😂

Oh soft play! That’s a circle of hell that’s way behind me now The one we used to go to seemed to have the worst acoustics ever so the sound of children squealing was bounced at you from every angle.

I would definitely rather have my hands and feet than an mbe. That poor woman

Softplay still hasn't reopened in Scotland. Although it can be hellish it can also be a nice way to kill a wet afternoon! My dc2 has almost grown out of them during Covid which is a bit sad.

Soft play!!
Fortunately that was dh's department.

I vividly remember the first time at our local soft play where DS went in and I sat down with a cup of tea and a custard cream biscuit and didn’t have to go in with him. Transformed the whole experience.

Christ @HobnobbingAboutHobnobs - unless you’ve got a very independent toddler (mine can’t climb to save her life) then you must be completely knackered!

Mind you, we spent most of the day in my dad’s pool, and having a 2.5 year old non swimmer clinging to my hip all day has killed my back. I mainly did it in the hope that ‘swimming’ will knock her out enough to give us a lie in post 6am tomorrow.